Duda, Heather L. the Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture
2008; Volume: 19; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0897-0521
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoDuda, Heather L. The Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture. Jefferson: McFarland, 2008. 192 pp. Softcover. ISBN 978-0-7864-3406-0. $35.00. If vampires should be read as a mirror, reflecting attitudes and beliefs of time and place from whence they came, then heroes who seek to destroy them--monster hunters--should also be a topic of close study. Heather L. Duda's ambitious The Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture is an analytical survey of a wide variety of visual and literary texts to illustrate how archetype has evolved over last century. She begins by identifying herself as a long-time fan of horror fiction and film: To me, a good scare [is] better than anything else (1). As a young teenager, Duda remembers turning off lights and watching TV mini-series version of Stephen King's It (1990), curled up in recliner, unable to move for fear of clowns and risk of missing an important (1). As both scholar and fan of horror, Duda's standpoint from within genre enables her to analyze not only cultural and historical evolution of monster and monster hunter, but also why these characters continue to fascinate and entertain modern psyche--the pleasures of horror. In chapter 1, A History of Monster Hunter, Duda begins her study with Bram Stoker's Dracula, the ultimate monster, and Abraham Van Helsing, the ultimate monster hunter. She notes that although Van Helsing represents the best that Victorian masculinity has to offer, a hero in whom intellect and nerve are combined with compassion, he and his ilk have not received attention they deserve from literary critics (8). Duda turns to feminist psychoanalytic criticism to explain why: Dracula, monstrous other, allows his audience's repression to run free via transference, thus purging [...] any guilt or frustration they may experience by keeping their repressions to themselves (10). As champion of Victorian culture and values, Van Helsing's purpose is to reinstate status quo, ending cathartic moment afforded by an exchange with monster. Although we might quibble that Harker and Holmwood are better representatives of Victorian masculinity and status quo than Van Helsing, Duda's point is still perceptive. As monster has evolved to reflect repressions of a new era, so has monster hunter: from saint to sinner, man to woman, and human to half-breed. Chapter 1 tracks evolution of monster and his doppelganger monster hunter, noting how new incarnations further blur lines between good and evil within both monster and hero. Duda analyzes several texts to illustrate this evolution, moving quickly between novel, film, TV, and graphic novel without giving much attention to how different media might change interpretation or message: Dracula (1931), Horror of Dracula (1958), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Captain Kronos (1974), Interview with Vampire (1976), Vampire Hunter D (1985), Buffy Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I (1999), Angel (1999-2004), and Van Helsing (2004). Chapter 2, Humanity and Contemporary Vampire, delineates necessary components needed for transformation of monster hunter from human to half-breed, using a detailed analysis of four characters as case studies: Nick from 1992-96 Canadian television series, Forever Knight, Blade (pictured on book's cover) from Blade film trilogy, and both Angel and Spike from Buffy Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel. In each case, monster somehow acquires a soul and with it a conscience, which eventually leads to connection and acceptance within a community. These new monster hunters have walked on both sides of good and evil; experience has taught them that world can never really be saved (and in end, they may not be saved either), but we are drawn to them because they heroically keep lurker at bay and humanity can continue just a little bit longer (66). …
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